Podcast: The art of the Metro service alert

No one likes giving out bad news about your bus or train ride. And no one at Metro especially loves hearing about a rider’s bad trip or experience on our buses and trains. But Metro’s social media team are often called upon to do both.

In our latest podcast, we discuss what we tell customers, what we sometimes don’t tell riders and why we use certain language and phrases, especially when there are serious incidents. I moderate the discussion which includes Alexia Hinton and Lily Allen — who tweet daily from Metro’s Rail Operations Center — along with Anna Chen from Metro communications and Stephen Tu from rail operations.

Something important to remember: our service alerts and social media efforts continue to evolve. We’re still very much trying to find the best and easiest way to reach riders with the information they most need. So be on the lookout for changes in the weeks and months ahead. And feel free to share your ideas in the comments. Thanks for listening!

This is a nice, timely story, especially considering the fatal Amtrak train derailment that occurred in Philadelphia later that night. Amtrak’s and SEPTA’s Twitter accounts were very busy trying to update followers on the breaking news. [SEPTA operates the Trenton Line on the same tracks where the derailment took place.]